Simple present tense formula- Subject + verb [s/es].
Third-person refers to a third party individual. It uses the subject pronouns “he,” “she,” “it,” “they.” Singular nouns, proper nouns, material nouns, abstract nouns, and uncountable nouns take 's' or 'es'. Plural nouns don't take 's' or 'es'.
Examples
India accepts all religions. [ The term 'India' is a proper noun]
Indians are affectionate people.[The term 'Indians' is a plural noun.]
Gold shines brighter in the dark.[The term 'gold' is a material noun.]
Beauty lies in heart not looks. [The term 'beauty' is an abstract noun.]
- Most verbs in English form the third-person singular by adding -s to the base form (sings, gives, requires).
- Verbs ending in -ch, -s, -sh, -x, or -z form the third-person singular by adding -es (watches, misses, rushes, mixes, buzzes).
- Verbs ending in a consonant + y (such as try) form the third-person singular by changing the y to i and adding -es (tries)
- The third-person plural noun does not take 's' or 'es'. Example sentences-
- He goes to college.
- Sita sings songs.
- It drinks milk.
- They play cricket. Practise sentences:
- I ___ to college. [go]
- They ____ [eat] salads every day.
- Rani often _____ basketball. [play]
- I always ____ the poor. [help]
- She usually ___ in the first row.[sit]
- We often ____ to Tirumala.[visit]
- People __ sweets.[like]
- Birds ___ [fly] in the sky. Signal words for simple present tense: These words tell you what tense you have to use. For the Present Simple these are adverbs of frequency:
-
- always
- often
- frequently
- never
- occasionally
- seldom
- sometimes
- usually
Other time phrases can occur, such as:
- every day
- every week
- every year
- every Thursday
- on Saturdays
- after school
- at the weekend